Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey boldly declared that her upcoming May showdown with Gina Carano represents the most significant mixed martial arts contest in history during a Wednesday press conference.
The 39-year-old fighter, who made history as the first female inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame and earned Olympic bronze in judo at the 2008 Beijing Games, successfully defended her bantamweight championship six times before suffering a shocking defeat to Holly Holm in 2015.
“This is not just the biggest women’s fight of all time … This is something that’s going to happen once in a lifetime in MMA, is the beginning of something huge,” Rousey declared during the media event.
Rousey dismissed suggestions that the matchup represents merely “nostalgia bait or a cash grab,” referencing the massive viewership numbers from Mike Tyson’s November 2024 encounter with Jake Paul as proof that audiences remain eager to watch legendary fighters return to competition.
That Tyson-Paul matchup attracted 108 million global viewers, setting records as the most-watched sporting event in streaming platform history.
The Rousey-Carano contest will mark promotion company MVP’s first venture into mixed martial arts and will be available for streaming on Netflix beginning May 16.
The former champion also responded sharply to current UFC women’s bantamweight titleholder Kayla Harrison, who recently dismissed Rousey as irrelevant during a podcast appearance.
“Gina is so relevant that she’s the whole reason the 145lb division even exists. I am so relevant that the only reason Kayla has a job at the UFC is because of me,” Rousey fired back.
“She has the charisma of a wet towel and will always be in someone else’s shadow. The next time she wants to talk, she should look down at her feet and consider who paved the road she’s walking on.”
Regarding fighter compensation, Rousey revealed that every competitor on the MVP card will receive a minimum $40,000 purse, emphasizing this was “something the UFC cannot say.”
For 43-year-old Carano, who hasn’t competed since losing to Cris Cyborg in 2009, this return feels markedly different from her previous fighting experiences.
“I feel real peace and excitement about it. It’s not anxiety, it’s excitement — and that’s new for me,” Carano shared.
The event’s co-main attraction will feature former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou taking on Philipe Lins, while Nate Diaz squares off against BKFC’s Mike Perry in the welterweight division.
